Glossary

)))

))) is a Russian smiley face. Russians spatter this all over their informal written communications. It is mostly used to indicate pleasure at what was just said, but can also be as empty as “lol” in English, or indicate that what was just said was supposed to be funny. It is generally used without a space at the end of the preceeding sentence.Link to this entry.

2ch.so

2ch.so is a Russian imageboard, which is similar to 4chan. It is the second generation of an older site called “2chan”, but is seen by many to be much tamer. Nonetheless, it is still the most visited imageboard on the Runet.Link to this entry.

бабонька

[bab-on-ka]noun.
A бабонька is a women. It’s inoffensive and generally used as a term of endearment. For example, on International Women’s Day, it would not be uncommon to see “С 8ого Марта, бабоньки” (the plural form) plastered across ВКонтакте.Link to this entry.

блин

[bleen]exclamation.
A блин is literally a pancake. It’s often used as a euphemism for the more offensive блядь, and conveys shock, or disgust. For a similar euphemism, see “shit” and “shoot” in English. Some more conservative Russians may find this word somewhat offensive.Link to this entry.

блядь

[blyad’]exclamation.
Блядь is a swear word that is most often used as an exclamation, although its original meaning is “whore”. It is still used in this context, and is one of the most offensive words a Russian can use against a woman.Link to this entry.

Ботокс

Botox in English, this rather derogatory nickname for Vladimir Putin is a reference to rumours that he has undergone cosmetic surgery to combat signs of aging.Link to this entry.

братан

[bratan]noun.
A general term of endearment for a male friend. Plural братаны (bratany).Link to this entry.

ВКонтакте

[v kon-tak-tyuh]noun.
ВКонтакте, or ВК, or VK is a Russian Facebook clone. It has almost all of the same features but retains an older design. It is the main social networking site in Russia, although Facebook is slowly catching up.Link to this entry.

гг

[gay-gay]
From the English GG, meaning “Good Game”, this comes from online gaming communities, where it is customary to thank other participants by saying “GG”. Due to the fact it is said after a game is complete, it can also mean “Game Over” in some contexts. Can be seen in both Cyrillic and Latin on the RuNet.Link to this entry.

говно

[gavno]noun.
Говно means shit, although its use is rarely figurative. It is the main element of the expression говно вопрос, which means “of course!”, rather than “shit question”.Link to this entry.

голубой

[galooboy]adjective.
In contrast to most of the Western world, the colour most associated with homosexuality in Russia is not pink, but a sort of light blue. Unfortunately, the particular colour is not easy to designate, as English uses the word “blue” to describe a range of colours that would be split in two in Russian. You may find it useful to contrast голубой with синий.Link to this entry.

гомосятин

[gomosyatin]noun.

A very derogatory word for either a homosexual, or anything deemed to be associated with homosexuals.Link to this entry.

госдура

[gosdura]noun.

A portmanteau of a contraction of the Russian word for their parliament (Госдума), and the word idiot (дура). It suggests that the State Duma is full of idiots. Derogatory, but not particularly offensive, and quite common.Link to this entry.

дерьмо

[der-mo]noun.
Shit. Both literally excrement and metaphorically something bad, or a bad situation. Has spawned the amusing derivative дерьмократия.Link to this entry.

дерьмократия

[der-mo-crat-iya]noun.
This is a portmanteau of two Russian words, democracy and shit. It is often used when talking about politics, and has a number of derivatives, such as дерьмократ, which have the same play on words in them.Link to this entry.

дрочить

[drochit’]verb.
To masturbate. Stronger and more offensive than the English term “to wank”, or “to jerk off”.Link to this entry.

ебать

[ye-bat’]verb & exclamation.
Literally to fuck. It can be used to refer to the sex act itself, but can also be used figuratively in many of the same ways English uses the word “fuck”. It is extremely offensive, and forms one of the core words that make up the backbone of Russian swearing. As with many other Russian swear words, one can also derive adjectives, adverbs, and nouns from it.Link to this entry.

жжот

[zhzhot]exclamation
Жжот is a word used to express agreement with, or appreciation of, what the parent has said. Comes from the Russian word for to set on fire, and means roughly the same as the English “rules”.Link to this entry.

жжошь

[zhzhosh]exclamation
As above, but directed at the parent. Roughly “you rule”.Link to this entry.

жопа

[zhopa]noun
Arse. This word is much ruder than its English counterpart, however.Link to this entry.

заебись

[zayebis]
Заебись is derived from the verb ебать, which means “to fuck”, but the meaning is more like “cool”, or “wicked” than “fuck”.Link to this entry.

залупа

[za-loo-pa]noun.
Literally the glans penis. In British English it can be adequately translated as “bell-end”, an approximate American equivalent would be dickhead.Link to this entry.

iPhone

Dmitri Medvedev, so-called thanks to his prolific use of Twitter and Instagram. Often written as айфонLink to this entry.

козёл

[kah-zyol]noun.
To literally translate this word would give you “goat”, but it is often used as a general insult, mostly against the intelligence of the person being insulted. It is not actually swearing, but is considered rather offensive. In the context of a prison, a козёл is an informant, or some other prisoner who works with the authorities in some way. They are one rung higher than roosters in the prison hierarchy, but are still treated generally very poorly by others in prison.Link to this entry.

мент

[ment]noun.
A derogatory (although common) term for the police. Although not a swear word, probably not a good idea to use with police officers. Originally from the Hungarian for police officer’s cape, the word has travelled to Russian via Polish, where it means soldier or guard.Link to this entry.

милиция

[militsia]noun.
The militsia was the name for the Russian police force prior to the 1st March 2011. From the very early days after the collapse of the Soviet Union, the militsia were seen as incapable of dealing with the demands of the job, and corruption was rife. In an attempt to improve the situation, Dmitry Medvedev introduced a law rebranding the militsia as the politsia (полиция), which took place on the 1st March 2011. Despite major changes to the police force, and the requirement that all officers undergo recertification, there is still a lot of mistrust of the police, and corruption is still a major problem, especially amongst traffic police.Link to this entry.

[petukh]noun.
A rooster, literally, but in context, a man who is anally raped. Generally in prison, or in the army. Also can refer to the lowest rank of the Russian prison hierarchy. These people are often subjected to anal rape, and are not allowed any privileges whatsoever. One can become a rooster for one’s crime (rape, although not date rape, and child molestation for example), or for contacting a rooster in any way. Russian prison law dictates that a rooster must identify himself as such when he is transferred to a new prison, on pain of death.Link to this entry.

пидарас

[pidaras]noun.
Sometimes spelled пидорас, the word shares its origins with the word “pederast”. It means gay or homosexual, but is a very derogatory term. Much like the English word “gay”, it is also often used negatively to mean something bad.Link to this entry.

пиндосы

[pindosy]noun.
American. From the Greek Πίνδος, which referred to the Pontic Greeks. The reasons for this are unclear.Link to this entry.

пизда

[pizdа]noun.
Cunt, both literally and in terms of usage. Carries at least the same weight as the English word, although has generated a huge number of derivatives, all equally as offensive.Link to this entry.

пиздец

[pizdets’]exclamation.
Пиздец is a swear word that is directed at someone, and is akin to calling them a cunt in English. It is derived from the noun пизда, which forms one of the seven main swear words in Russian.Link to this entry.

Рашка

[rashka]noun.
Derived from the word “Russia”, Рашка is a generally derogatory term that Russians apply to their own country. It is often used when describing Russia’s problems, and particularly when the media highlights an unfavourable aspect of Russian life. Sometimes written Раша.Link to this entry.

срать

[srat’]verb.
To defecate. Similar to the word “to shit” in English. As with other Russian words, it can be changed relatively simply to create derivative adjectives and nouns, which carry the weight of the original root word, but can be used more figuratively.Link to this entry.

сука

[sooka]noun.
Although literally translated as bitch, сука is a much more offensive term than the English. Can be used for either a man or a woman. Also, historically, during WWII Stalin granted pardons to those who engaged in military service. As any co-operation with the state was frowned upon by prisoners, those who took up this offer were seen as суки, and demoted to the lowest levels of prison life. Infighting among the prisoners reached a head in the Bitch Wars.Link to this entry.

товарищ

[ta-var-eesh]noun.
Товарищ is a word from old Turkic originally meaning merchant that has had many forms over the years. It is the typical Soviet greeting translated into English as “comrade”, but can also mean friend, colleague, or ally. It does not necessarily (although it may) carry connotations of the Soviet era.Link to this entry.

[tra-khat]verb.
A rude word meaning to have sex with. Approximately, to fuck.Link to this entry.

тоска

Vladimir Nabokov is often quoted in reference to this word, which is essentially untranslatable. Here is his explanation:

“No single word in English renders all the shades of toska. At its deepest and most painful, it is a sensation of great spiritual anguish, often without any specific cause. At less morbid levels it is a dull ache of the soul, a longing with nothing to long for, a sick pining, a vague restlessness, mental throes, yearning. In particular cases it may be the desire for somebody of something specific, nostalgia, love-sickness. At the lowest level it grades into ennui, boredom.”

[oo-kray-ee-na]noun.
Ukraine is a country which was formerly part of the USSR. There has been much debate as to whether to include the definite article in English (ie: should it be ‘the Ukraine; or simply ‘Ukraine’). It is our belief (and that of The Times, The Guardian, The Economist and others) that Ukraine does not need the definite article, as this can be seen as offensive. However, a similar debate is ongoing in Russian. To reflect this, we have decided that our style will refer to “Ukraine” in any writing originally composed in English, and in comments where the preposition “в” (preferred by Ukrainians) is used, but “the Ukraine” when the preposition “на” (preferred by Russian prescriptivists) is used.Link to this entry.

хачи

noun pl.
Short for a common Armenian name, this word has become a general racist term to describe someone from central Asia. The word is very offensive, and is often applied to immigrant workers.Link to this entry.

хз

exclamation.
Short for хуй знает, or “dick knows”. Approximately the same intensity and meaning as “fuck knows” in English.Link to this entry.

хуй

[khuy]noun.
One of the main Russian swear words, хуй literally means dick, but similarly to English, can also be used about a person. It also has many derivatives that do not relate to the literal meaning. It is almost as versatile as the word fuck in English, some would argue even more so.Link to this entry.

хрен

[khren]noun.
A euphemism for хуй, хрен is literally horse radish. It is, however, still rather rude in context, due to the strength of the word from which it is derived. Also commonly spelled хрень.Link to this entry.

чинуши

[chin-oo-shi]noun pl.
Чинуши is a derogatory diminutive that refers to civil servants, and can be roughly translated as “bureaucrats”. However, this lacks the derogatory tone of the Russian. The correct way to refer to civil servants would be чиновники, and it is from this word that чинуши is derived.Link to this entry.

чурки

[churki]noun pl.
An offensive word used to describe someone from central Asia. The word itself is a corruption of Turki (short for Turkistani), and is therefore probably comparable to “paki” in English, both in etymology and in level of offence it is likely to cause.Link to this entry.

XYNTA

[khuy-ta]exclamation.
From хуй, this means bullshit, and is exclaimed about something that is unbelievable. It represents the Russian хуита, which expresses the sentiment that no-one cares about what’s being discussed. Somewhat similar to “cool story, bro”, except much ruder.Link to this entry.